Free SHS to reposition Ghana as a supply of labour – Yofi Grant
The Free Senior High School according to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Yofi Grant, will reposition Ghana as a supply of labour for the productive sectors of the economy and ensure the overall economic growth of the country.
Making the assertion at the GIPC Spark Up Investment Summit, Mr Grant averred the country through the policy seeks to take advantage of its human capital for the advancement of the economy.
“The Free SHS will reposition Ghana as a supply of labour and ensure that we take advantage of human capital in the country and also on the continent,” stated Mr Grant to investors present at the Summit.
It is expected that with the huge increment in educated and skilled labour, the country will be able to make good use of its resources to enhance economic growth as is the case of China.
The free SHS policy aims to take out the element of cost as a barrier to education by eliminating the financial burdens parents face in paying their children’s fees.
Speaking further at the event, Mr Grant highlighted the GIPC’s success in attracting some $874 million in foreign direct inflows into the country for the first half of 2021.
Ghana, according to Mr Grant recorded a total of $874 million in investments in the first half of this year from 122 projects.
Of the total investments, the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) component amounted to $829.29 million, while the local component accounted for $44.72 million. This is an increase 32.15% over the FDI value of $627.52 million recorded in the first half of 2020
Out of the 122 projects registered, 94 were newly registered projects and 28 were upstream projects.
The total initial capital transfers also amounted to $47.76 million for the first half of 2021.
Sector breakdown of projects
Out of the 122 projects registered, the services sector, with 63 projects, recorded the highest number of projects. It was followed by manufacturing with 24 projects. General Trading and Building and Construction followed with 18 and 6 projects respectively.
The oil & gas sector, as well as export trade sectors, recorded five projects each. The agriculture sector also recorded a project.
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In terms of the FDI values, the services sector recorded the largest value of $597.63 million. This was followed by the manufacturing sector with FDI value of $98.74 million.
The general trading, as well as building/construction sectors, recorded FDI values of $41.87 million and $22.63 million respectively.
Employment to be generated
A total of 8,931 jobs are expected to be generated by projects registered with operations at full capacity. 8,091 (90.59%) of these jobs would be for Ghanaians whilst the remaining 840 (9.41%) will be for non-Ghanaians per GIPC records.
Registered wholly Ghanaian owned projects
A total of 27 wholly Ghanaian owned projects with total estimated investment amount of $669.64 million were registered for the first half of 2021. These projects were registered for the agriculture, building & construction, general trading, manufacturing and services sectors.
Regional distribution
In terms of regional distribution of the projects registered, nine regions directly benefited from the 122 projects.
96 projects, representing 78.69% of the projects registered are in the Greater Accra region.
The other regions are the Ashanti and Western regions with eight and nine projects respectively. Bono, Central and Eastern regions registered two projects each and Ahafo, Northern and Upper West with a project each.
